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 Posted - December 03 2006 : 6:23:04 PM
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Not that anyone would ever confuse it with an Athearn Genesis F-7A, but those who don't have an MRC F-7A in their collection or who are looking for a good deal might enjoy having this F-7A for $19.99!
Regularly $79, MRC has a HOT WEB SPECIAL as they are saying right now on the single-headlight Santa Fe #300C F-7A from the MRC Platinum Series. Shipping appears to be $7, so $26.99 buys ya one of 'em...
/tyco/forum/uploaded/Tony Cook/CB101.jpg
Here's a direct link to MRC's site and the sale info...
http://www.modelrectifier.com/search/product-view.asp?ID=1344
/tyco/forum/uploaded/Tony Cook/MRCLogo.gif
I'm guessing MRC has seen the writing on the wall for these locos and won't be doing anymore of them. I bought a Rock Island F-7A not long after MRC released them and they are odd. Though they've been given brass horns and have separate metal grilles and wire grab irons, they still aren't that good looking. My Rock Island example does run well and they are packaged in a nice large box with foam insert...semi brass loco like. My Rock Island F-7A even came with a silly MRC button for wearing on your engineer's hat...as if you'd wanna promote that you own and operate one of these F-units...then again I wear a TYCO t-shirt in public often so I won't throw any stones. Anyhow, they seem to ride a bit too high and I've heard and noticed some rivet-counter's delight errors about the body. Maybe the poorest feature of the MRC locos is the weak paint jobs. Some didn't even seem to get some basic lettering sytles correct and colors were often off too. I remember seeing a SOO LINE F-7 in the MRC series and they seemed to have botched the font used for the SOO down the loco's side.
I'm bummed because I've been wanting to nail a B-unit for my collection and I see they were dumping the F-7B Santa Fe for $19.99 and it is not sold out. Well, I'll start haunting the MRC site and will post when and if I see any new deals...for now grab one them ATSF F-7As for $19.99.[:)]
Tony Cook
HO-Scale Trains Resource
http://ho-scaletrains.net
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 Posted - December 03 2006 : 6:37:44 PM
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I did a search at Walthers to see what they had listed still for the MRC F-units and what prices they had....
Walthers lists only a Penn Central F-7A (MRC #32144) and it is selling there at $79 and listed as, "scheduled to be phased out."
Tony Cook
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http://ho-scaletrains.net
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Posted - December 03 2006 : 6:38:11 PM
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| how thats what i call a bargain ken
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Posted - December 04 2006 : 12:02:45 PM
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| How well do they run? I guess for $20 though you really couldn't complain... yet something does look a little odd about that pic. Are the numberboards too low? (I do see the cigarband is warped which to me is a deal-breaker at $79; at $19 it's replaceable).
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Posted - December 04 2006 : 1:14:29 PM
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The MRC F-units are flywheel equipped and nice and heavy. My example is a very smooth runner...no complaints.
As you say for $79, one could be very very critical...but at $19.99 they aren't too bad really. Consider that the same $20 would maybe buy a standard line Bachmann FT-A.
Tony Cook
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Posted - December 04 2006 : 2:34:11 PM
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| comparred to some other makes i have seen it certainly looks good unless you count rivits,snap um up will you can,they do not send to uk overwise they would be gone ken
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Posted - December 04 2006 : 9:44:22 PM
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WOW. Thanks for the heads-up Tony. Someone should pay you a finder's fee!!! [:D] I'll be stripping more than a college girl making her way through her freshman year...LOL [:D]
That F7A & B combo are dead ringers for about 11 of the 21 passenger trains for the New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal, circa 1958-1961.
I hope the Conrail and Amtrak B units come down to $20 also...I can get a KCS Southern Belle going, T&P's trains from Ft. Worth to N.O....Southern's Crescent...One or two SP specials...and a few of the L&N's premier trains. I already have P2K E7/8's for The Hummingbird and Pan American...I guess it will be time for The Azalean and maybe a Local (#9) from N.O. to Ocean Spirngs, MS. YOWZA.
"Dear Santa...
Please bring me acetone, paint remover, artist's striping tape, a few Paasche and badger guns, a kick-as* compresser, a spray booth, a Ferrari GTO, eternal life...LOL...[:D]"
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Posted - December 04 2006 : 10:19:38 PM
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quote:| WOW. Thanks for the heads-up Tony. Someone should pay you a finder's fee!!! [:D] I'll be stripping more than a college girl making her way through her freshman year...LOL [:D] Originally posted by theoldreliable - December 04 2006 : 8:44:22 PM
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You know just reading your comment about stripping college girls working through freshmen year in relation to removing the ATSF markings from MRC F-7s is "finder's fee" enough for me. [}:)]
I too am hoping more F-7B models slip down to $19.99 was bummed to have missed the ATSF one that sold out.
Tony Cook
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Posted - December 05 2006 : 10:50:04 AM
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Though somebody will soon ask, "What? Does he work for MRC???" I'm gonna dive back into the MRC F-7As here and show some pics. Hadn't had my Rock Island example outta its box for some time and got it out this morning. Still runs smooth and nice.
Now, this pics are not great, but you'll see probably MRC's biggest problem with this series of engines and that's the paint jobs. This Rock Island example is borderline orange and not the red one might consider to be more correct for CRIP paint...
Again, though if you're gonna stripe 'em like a freshmen college girl...aka ThOR it won't be an issue. [:D]
The color comparison isn't easy due to my lighting on this group, but here's the MRC Rock Island F-7 sitting with a TYCO C430; Stewart Executive U25B; Athearn RTR Bay Window Caboose; and IHC C415. If you were standing there, you'd have noticed that the Stewart-Athearn-and even IHC models all had a similar red...but the poor MRC is over with the TYCO C430 in the somewhat curious looking hue red category.
This is typical of the MRC paints from what I've seen. Lettering fonts and sizes are not always too accurate and the paint work is so-so. MRC also left the grabs raw from examples I've seen. This Rock Island model has plain brass grabs, though they did apply red paint to the horns.
Under the hood, you'll see a solid frame and I believe dual flywheels.
Tony L. or someone with more DCC knowledge might provide some input about what one might be able to add to the circuit board seen below too. Since MRC has long been into DCC, I'm assuming this should be easy to work on in that respect. Regarding date of release, I noticed the fuel tank says MRC 1999 on it, as does the green circuit board.
Tony Cook
HO-Scale Trains Resource
http://ho-scaletrains.net
Edited by - Tony Cook on December 05 2006 10:51:51 AM
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